Transfer News: Manchester City and Inter Milan lining up Robinho - Mario Balotelli swap
The news that has been floating around for what seems like forever, is that of Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli heading to Manchester City. However, after some recent events and developments, it is now reported that the deal will only be complete with Robinho heading the other way to the San Siro.
According to Tuttosport, Robinho’s agent was spotted in Milan, Italy. The only reason that he made his presence felt in Milan was because he was there to discuss a potential move for his client to the Italian giants, Serie A and Champions League winners.
According to the newspaper, Manchester City are willing to let Robinho leave and join the first ever treble winning Italian side. This way they will manage to get rid of him from their wage bill. However, they are only willing to let the player go on a loan. They are considering the loan deal so that it helps increase the player’s value and in case they decide to sell the player later, it will only add to his value.
This news has come in despite the fact that City manager Roberto Mancini recently publicly stated that he was glad to have Robinho back in the squad. He said so in response to media speculation that the Brazilian and the manager weren’t the best of friends. The manager said that he had no problems with Robinho and felt that the Brazilian player had no problems with the manager either at the moment.
The twenty six year old striker arrived in Manchester City from Real Madrid two seasons ago for a fee reported to be around 42.5 million Euros. He has since managed to be nothing more than a very expensive asset to the club and even played most of his last season in Brazil with Santos.
What’s interesting to note here is the fact that Santos were willing to loan Robinho back this coming season, but City refused. They told the Brazilian club that they were open to letting the player stay in Brazil only if the club managed to purchase him. The Brazilian outfit didn’t have the thirty two and a half million pounds that were being demanded off them and hence the deal fell through. However, now City are willing to let Robinho go to Inter on a loan only because it would let them sign Balotelli.
This would prove to be a great deal if it is pulled off by City. The Brazilian has no reason to stay at the club, and would just be extra weight on the club’s shoulders. Considering City really could use the likes of Balotelli up front, this deal would be a great way of persuading Inter to let the player go.
What isn’t quite clear here is how the deal would take place. It could either be a straight cash swap and if it is, would City be demanding the money or would Inter Milan be looking for money in the swap. Robinho is a player who has plenty of experience and has a more than decent World Cup campaign to his credit, whereas Balotelli is a player who is still under twenty one, and is one of the future stars in the world of football.
Balotelli would be brought in to replace Craig Bellamy, which only means that Bellamy is another City player who is more than certainly on his way out of the Eastlands this summer. Robinho, on the other hand, would be joining the Inter squad. Either way, it is a win-win situation for both the teams and both the players.
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